


A Sifting Sand and An Electric Hand

by velvetjinx



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: All the puns, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Artist Steve Rogers, Canon Disabled Character, Captain America Reverse Big Bang 2018, First Kiss, Homophobic Language, Humor, M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Punk Steve Rogers, Set in the 1980s, fighting neo nazis in every universe, geek Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-08 22:56:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14704197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvetjinx/pseuds/velvetjinx
Summary: 1985. Little punk Steve is always getting into fights with guys bigger than him, and Bucky always seems to get drawn into them. He doesn’t really mind, though. Not considering his big gay crush on Steve. If he could only find the right moment to tell him…





	A Sifting Sand and An Electric Hand

**Author's Note:**

> A Captain America Reverse Big Bang 2018 collaboration with the amazing [forestoffire](https://forestoffire.tumblr.com/post/174045736326/heres-my-art-for-captain-america-reverse-big) who provided ideas, helped with the outline, and created the beautiful art which I was lucky to write for.
> 
> Betaed by Liv--many thanks!
> 
> Title from 'I Fall' by The Damned

Bucky wandered across the quad in the middle of the campus, waving occasionally to people he knew. He was pretty popular in most circles, despite basically just being a gigantic nerd. It probably had to do with the fact that the middle of last year he’d accidentally blown up an experiment and set fire to an entire section of the lab. He’d become kind of a hero after that, although Bucky was mostly embarrassed about it. He should have known better than to mix those quantities of chemicals together. Aside from that, he was also just generally a nice, friendly guy, and people tended to respond to his open demeanor and wide smile. 

He scratched his left shoulder, where the prosthetic met skin, before hiking his backpack up. It was a beautiful fall day—the sun was shining through the trees, and the leaves on the trees were turning spectacular reds and golds. It was warm, but not hot, and Bucky was enjoying the feel of the sun on his face. 

As he passed an alleyway between buildings on his way to his next class, he heard scuffling and cursing. He glanced down the alleyway and saw a little guy, no more than five feet four, facing off against two guys who were about twice his size.

“You little faggot, we’re gonna fucking put you in the hospital,” one of them sneered. Bucky spotted a swastika badge on the guy’s backpack and narrowed his eyes. Fucking neo-nazis.

“I’d like to see you try it,” the little guy scoffed, putting up his fists. He had a punk-style haircut and wore a Captain America tee under a black leather jacket, and was kind of gorgeous. Behind him on the wall was a mural of the captain himself, and Bucky was almost amused by the juxtaposition of the big, strong hero behind this little skinny guy who probably had more courage in his little finger than any superhero ever did. 

As Bucky stepped forward, one of the big guys punched the little one in the face, sending him reeling. The little guy grabbed the lid of a trash can and stood back up, nose bloodied. As the second big guy took a swing, the little guy held up the trash can lid, and there was a loud clang as the big guy’s fist collided with metal. 

“Didn’t your mama ever teach you rock, paper, fist, metal? Metal _always_ beats fist,” the little guy said with a grin.

“Motherfucker!” the big guy howled. “I’m gonna kill you, you little faggot!”

Bucky strode up behind them and tapped one on the shoulder. When he turned, Bucky punched him hard enough that the guy toppled to the ground. He might have one prosthetic arm, but Bucky also had a mean right hook. 

The other guy took a swing which Bucky blocked easily, before kicking the guy in the stomach. The guy fell backwards, and Bucky strode up to the little guy.

“You okay?” he asked quietly.

The little guy’s eyes narrowed. “I had them on the ropes. I didn’t need your help.”

Bucky looked at the little guy and smiled, knowing exactly how to handle this. “Yeah, I know. I liked the trick with the trash can lid, that was awesome. You don’t look much like a metal fan, though. More Sex Pistols.” 

The little guy snorted.”I have my moments.”

“So yeah, I know you had a handle on it. But I heard what they were saying and wanted to get my own punches in.”

“Not a fan of homophobes?”

“Not really, especially when they’re neo-nazis.” Bucky looked back, as the big guys were helping each other up. “You wanna go again or are you gonna get out of here?” Bucky growled.

The guys looked at each other, then turned tail and fled. Bucky shook his head.

“Fucking cowards,” the little guy spat, and Bucky nodded. 

“Yup.” Bucky turned to the little guy and smiled. “Hey, what’s your name? I’ve seen you around.”

“Steve,” the little guy replied. “Steve Rogers.”

“Nice you meet you, Steve Rogers. I’m Bucky Barnes.”

Steve grinned. “Yeah, I know. Pretty sure everyone knows who you are.”

“Oh.” Bucky cleared his throat, unsure of how to continue. “You a science fan?”

“Not really,” Steve replied, shrugging. “But you’re kinda a superstar on campus.”

“We aren’t the same age, I don’t think? Pretty sure we would have shared a class by now.”

“Nah, I think I’m a year younger than you.”

“So what are you studying?” Bucky asked as they walked out of the alleyway together.

“Art. I graffitied the mural on the Franklin building.”

Bucky gaped. “No way! I love that mural! Did you have permission?”

“Of course,” Steve replied with a snort. “You don’t shit where you eat. I’m not gonna graffiti on campus without permission, especially not something that intricate.”

“So where else do you graffiti?” Bucky asked.

Steve grinned at him. “Maybe I’ll show you sometime. Anyway, I gotta get to class. See you around, Bucky.”

Bucky opened his mouth to ask more questions, but Steve had already headed off in the opposite direction. He narrowed his eyes. He had to find out more about Steve.

***

“Steve Rogers?” Natasha said around a mouthful of burrito. “Isn’t he the little skinny guy who painted the mural on the Franklin building?”

Bucky nodded. “Yeah, I met him today. He was in a fight with two huge guys, neo-nazi fucks who kept calling him a faggot.” Bucky winced as he said the word, and Natasha wrinkled her nose.

“Gross. What are they doing on campus? Don’t they realize that the war was like, forty years ago? And they lost?”

“Apparently not.” Bucky hopped off the countertop. “Anyway, I have a lab in half an hour.”

“Nerd.” 

“Bite me!” Bucky said cheerfully, kissing her on the cheek before leaving their apartment. Natasha was the best roommate he’d had in the whole of college, although their other roommate, Clint, was a close second. They had kind of a weird history—Bucky was a little fuzzy on the details—but they all got on well and whatever history they had seemed to have been left in the past. 

His lab was amazing—chemistry was _the_ coolest science, no matter what anyone else said, especially when they got to play with liquid nitrogen—and Bucky left the class on a high. It was dark by the time he got out the science building—the fall nights were starting to draw in. Bucky shivered. There was a light chill in the air too, and soon it would be Halloween. 

Bucky was pretty sure he was going to dress up as a wheel made of iron this year, because the “ferrous wheel” joke was too good not to make as far as he was concerned. 

As he walked through campus, he heard voices from down the same alleyway as before, and sighed. “Again?” he murmured to himself, and dug in his bag, finding a can of soda. He looked down the alleyway and, sure enough, there was Steve facing off against the same two guys.

“Where’s your savior now, Rogers?” one of them sneered, and Steve rolled his eyes.

“I don’t need a savior, dick. I can take you both fine on my own.”

Bucky casually took aim and pitched the soda can at the blond goon. It hit him square in the back of the head and he dropped to his knees. His dark haired cronie turned, eyes widening when he saw it was Bucky.

“Hey, guys,” Bucky said casually. “Back for more?” He glanced at Steve. “Pretty sure we can take them, huh, Steve?”

Steve grinned, nodding. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure we can.”

“Did you just throw a can of soda at me?” the big guy on his knees yelled.

“Yeah, I did.”

“You could have killed me!”

“Nah,” Bucky drawled. “It’s a soft drink, and you’ve obviously got a hard head.”

While the goons were puzzling this out, Bucky strode up to them. “So are we gonna have a problem or what?”

The dark haired creep swung at Bucky, who ducked easily, punching the guy in the stomach. While he was doubled over, Steve kicked him in the ass, sending him flying into the grimy ground of the alleyway. The blond got up, but Steve was ready for him, punching him right in the jaw. Bucky heard a loud _crack_ and the goon grabbed his cheek. 

“I think you broke my fucking jaw, you little shit!” 

“Oops,” Steve said, shrugging. “I can break more than that if you want.”

The blond goon thought for a moment, then backed away, pulling his friend up before the two guys ran off.

Bucky looked curiously at Steve, who held up his fist. He was wearing a bronze knuckleduster. 

“Gotta be careful out there. You wanna make an omelette, you gotta crack some eggs. Or, at least, some jaws,” Steve said with a grin, and Bucky laughed. “So what are you doing here?”

“Was just at a lab. I’m studying chemistry.”

“Of course, yeah, that’s how you blew up a lab,” Steve said, laughing. “So are you a real science nerd or what?”

“Pretty much.” Bucky blushed. “But then it’s the only course where you can legally trip on acid, though it does tend to make a mess if it spills.”

Steve snorted. “Oh my god, chemistry puns?”

“Yeah, I know. We need to take them all… and barium.”

“Oh god,” Steve said, chuckling. “That’s so bad. Come on, let’s get out of here before those guys decide to come back.”

“You should know I tell a lot of elemental jokes. Or at least, I tell them periodically.”

Steve wheezed. “No more, oh my god.”

“Yeah. Although, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from studying science, it’s to never trust an atom.”

“Why not?”

“They make up everything.”

Steve’s laughter was music to Bucky's ears.

***

Bucky was sprawled on the sofa that evening with Natasha when Clint burst out of his bedroom.

“Who stole all my light bulbs?”

Bucky grinned at Natasha. “And we thought you’d be delighted.”

Clint gave the two of them a long look, before storming into the kitchen on a wave of Bucky and Natasha’s laughter. 

“Do you think that was mean?” Bucky asked, and Natasha shook her head. 

“Nah, worth it.” She poked his leg with her foot. “So tell me more about Steve.”

“Why?”

Natasha sighed. “Well, you obviously have a thing for him. You didn’t shut up about him for half an hour when you came back. You should ask him out.”

Bucky's eyes widened. “I can’t do that! What if he says no? What if he says yes? I don’t think I’m equipped to deal with that. Besides, he probably doesn’t think about me like that. It’s not like I’m out and proud.”

“What the hell do you mean?” Natasha asked. “I hate to break it to you, Bucky, but your clothes are really pretty gay.”

“Well, they did come out the closet.”

Natasha gave him a look.

***

Bucky didn’t see Steve for a few days, which was pretty disappointing but not unexpected. It wasn’t a huge campus, but still big enough that they normally wouldn’t cross paths. 

The following Monday, he was in the cafeteria when Steve came in and waved at him, coming over and collapsing into the seat opposite. 

“Hey, Bucky.”

“Hey, Steve. How's it going?”

“Pretty good. You?”

“Yeah, okay. My roommate thinks I’m out too much these days. She misses me. Although to be fair, her aim is improving.”

Steve sat back and laughed. “I’ve missed this.”

“It’s nice to hang out without getting in a fight…” Bucky began, before trailing off. “Looks like I spoke too soon,” he muttered. The two guys from the alleyway had just come into the cafeteria, and were terrorizing a group of girls near the door. 

Steve was immediately on his feet, marching over, and Bucky raised his eyes heavenward before following.

“Hey, ladies, are these guys bothering you?” Steve asked the girls casually, and the creeps glared at him.

“Who asked you to interfere?” the blond one sneered, grabbing the front of Steve's shirt and lifting him bodily off of the ground. 

Steve waved a hand in front of his nose. “Wow, your breath is bad. You might wanna see an orthodontist about that.”

The blond growled and drew back his arm to punch Steve; before Bucky could do anything, Steve kicked the goon hard in the knee and he let go before collapsing with a howl. 

Steve looked around at Bucky and grinned. “Steel toecaps,” he explained, and Bucky grinned.

While they were distracted, the dark haired friend had stepped up, and he backhanded Steve across the face, sending him reeling. Bucky's eyes narrowed and he clocked the dude before kneeing him in the groin. The goon doubled over in pain, and Bucky spotted campus security coming in at the other end of the cafeteria. 

He grabbed Steve's arm and pulled him up, saluting the girls before making their escape. 

They ran outside and across the quad to the literature building, then sat on the steps, laughing. Bucky looked at Steve's face, where a bruise was starting to bloom on his cheek. 

Steve rolled his eyes. “Bucky, I’m fine.”

“Yeah, but have you ever considered _not_ getting into so many fights?” Bucky asked softly.

Steve shrugged. “I don’t go looking for trouble, you know? But if I see a situation go south, then I have to do something about it. I wish I didn’t.”

“No you don’t,” Bucky said, smiling, and Steve smiled back.

“No, I don’t.”

“I wish we could get those guys kicked out. How did you meet them, anyway?”

“I was on campus one day with an ex-boyfriend and they saw me squeeze his hand. It was only a moment, but they saw us and realized that we were together. So they’ve been hassling me ever since. Usually they don’t get the drop on me, and I can avoid them or at least be around other people, but recently it seems like they've been waiting for me.”

Bucky frowned. “That's kinda worrying.” He sighed. “Anyway, I've gotta get to class.”

“More chemistry?”

“Nah, I'm taking math as well. I always think my math book looks kinda sad, but that's not really surprising.”

Steve looked at him in confusion. “How come?”

“You know, it's just got so many problems,” Bucky said, expression deadpan, and Steve stared at him for a moment before shoving his shoulder. 

“Get outta here.”

“I'm going, I'm going,” Bucky said with a laugh, and left towards the math building. 

*** 

Two days later, Bucky was walking home from his lab when he heard a cry from around the corner. He began to run, rounding the corner to find the blond neo-nazi holding Steve to the wall while the dark haired one got in some punches.

Bucky saw red and swung his backpack, containing his heavy textbooks, at blondie’s head. The asshole crumpled to the ground, and the dark haired guy turned to Bucky, sneering. 

“Why won’t you stay out of our business?” 

“Maybe because you’re assholes?” Bucky responded. “Come on, Steve, let’s go.”

As they went to walk away, the guy grabbed Bucky's left arm to pull him back, but he pulled so hard that the prosthetic came off in his hand. Bucky grabbed it back, incensed, and started beating the goon around the head with it.

“That’s!” _Whack_ “My!” _Whack_ “Fucking!” _Whack_ “Arm!” He dropped the prosthetic and clocked the guy across the face, and the guy dropped. 

Steve picked the prosthetic off the ground and handed it to Bucky. “You okay?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t hurt when that happens, it’s just fucking annoying if they broke it,” Bucky grumbled as they walked away. Suddenly, Steve began to laugh. “What?”

“It was just… you were whacking that guy over the head with a dismembered arm and it was…” Steve began to wheeze with laughter, and Bucky grinned.

“Just goes to show you can’t disarm a good fighter,” Bucky said, then paused. “So, uh, this is maybe a weird time, but would you maybe wanna get dinner with me sometime?” Bucky asked, hands twisting nervously.

Steve stopped laughing and smiled softly. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask that,” he said.

Bucky's eyes widened. “You have? I mean… you have?”

“Yeah,” Steve said, blushing. “I didn’t know if you were, you know, I mean I hoped but I didn’t know so I didn’t want to ask you in case I ruined our friendship.”

“That’s really awesome,” Bucky said gleefully, unable to stop grinning. “So, uh, when do you wanna go out?”

“Tomorrow night?”

“Perfect.” Bucky paused, looking around. “I really wanna kiss you right now, but there are too many people around.”

“Tomorrow,” Steve said, his tone a promise, and Bucky nodded.

“Yeah. Tomorrow.”

***

The next day, Bucky woke with a smile on his face. When he stumbled through to the kitchen for breakfast, Natasha and Clint were already there, squabbling over who got the cereal box toy. Bucky flopped into one of the chairs and grinned at them.

“What’s got you so chipper?” Natasha grumbled, before snatching the toy from Clint's hand with a triumphant “Ha-ha!”

“I’m, uh. I’m going on a date with Steve tonight,” Bucky told them, blushing, and Natasha smirked.

“Finally work up the courage to ask him out?”

“Yeah, and he said he’d been hoping I would.”

Natasha frowned. “Why didn’t he just ask you out himself?”

“He said he didn’t know if I liked guys and he didn’t want to ruin our friendship by asking me out if I didn’t.”

“So where are you guys gonna go? You know you can’t really take a punk to the park for a picnic.”

“Picnics can be punk,” Bucky retorted. “But no, I have no idea. I figure we’ll meet up and he can decide.”

“Good plan,” Clint mumbled around his coffee mug. “That way you won’t suggest something that’ll be a total bust.”

Bucky considered being offended, but it was kinda true. He was hopeless at dating.

“So where and when are you meeting?” Natasha asked.

“Seven, at the Franklin building.”

“Well, good luck!” Natasha said, standing and taking her cereal bowl over to the sink. “I’m sure you two will have a great time.”

“Thanks, Natasha.”

***

Bucky was on edge all day, trying and failing not to be nervous about his date with Steve. He tried to distract himself by listening to music on his Walkman between classes, but then ‘I Fall’ by The Damned came on and it reminded him of Steve so he fast forwarded to the next track before his palms started to sweat.

At a quarter to seven, he made his way to the Franklin building. He worried about whether or not he should have gone home to change, but his last lab hadn’t finished until six thirty so he wouldn’t have had the time. 

When he got to the Franklin building, Steve was already there waiting on him, and Bucky smiled to see his ripped jeans and big steel-toe capped boots. His t-shirt was plain white with safety pins holding together the various tears, and his leather jacket hung off his skinny frame. 

He looked amazing.

“Hi,” Bucky said breathlessly, and Steve smiled at him.

“Hi. You ready to go?”

“Yeah.” They walked in silence for a few moments, then Bucky asked hesitantly, “So, what do you want to do?”

“Wanna grab dinner? Unless you’ve already eaten!”

“No, I haven’t eaten.”

“I know the perfect place,” Steve told him, and Bucky gestured forward.

“Lead on, then.”

Steve led him to a tiny, hole-in-the-wall restaurant. If Steve hadn’t shown him where the door was he never would have seen it. When they went inside, a large woman bore down on Steve, kissing him on the cheek and speaking a mile a minute.

“Steve, child, we haven’t seen you in here forever! Oh, and you brought a friend! Come in, come in; would you like your usual table?”

“Thanks, Charlotte. Charlotte, this is my good friend, Bucky. He, uh, he always has my back in a fight.”

Charlotte tutted. “Are you still getting into fights? Some things never change, I suppose. Who are you fighting with now?”

“Some guys on campus. The kind who would look more at home with a pencil mustache.”

“Oh!” Charlotte’s eyes widened. “Are that kind allowed on campus?”

“Apparently so. But it’s okay, we can handle them, can’t we, Bucky?”

“We have so far,” Bucky said, smiling.

“Good, you’re such good boys.” Charlotte hugged them both in turn. “Come on, your table is free tonight.”

They followed Charlotte to a table in a dim corner of the room, and took their seats. Charlotte handed them each a menu then winked at them both before retreating.

“So what kind of restaurant is this?” Bucky asked.

“It’s a smokehouse. They do the best ribs,” Steve replied.

“Oooh, awesome.” Bucky looked through the menu—it did all sound really good. In the end he ordered the ribs with mashed potatoes and green beans on the side, and Steve smiled before ordering the same. They relaxed with their sodas as they waited for their food in a comfortable silence. 

“So what are you working on in art class right now?” Bucky asked at length.

“We’re currently doing life drawing.”

Bucky gaped. “So, like, naked people?”

“Yeah,” Steve said with a laugh. “Naked people.”

“Isn’t that, I don’t know, awkward?”

Steve shrugged. “At first. Then they’re just another thing you draw. You barely even notice the models after a while.”

“Wow. I don’t know if I could do that.”

“What, draw them or model?” Steve teased, and Bucky blushed. 

“Draw them. I definitely couldn’t model.”

Steve laughed. “Yeah, you have to have a certain kind of bravery to be naked in front of a room full of complete strangers.”

“I’ll say.” There was a pause as their food was served, and Bucky couldn’t help but let out a small noise of pleasure at the smell. “Oh my god, this smells amazing.”

“Right? It tastes even better.”

There was no talking for a while as they ate, except for some small talk about how good the food was. It was too delicious to interrupt with conversation. 

When they’d both finished, Bucky sat back, rubbing his stomach. “Man, that was amazing. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this place before.”

“Yeah, I used to come here with my mom a lot.”

Bucky’s expression turned sympathetic. He knew that Steve's mom had passed away a year previous thanks to Natasha’s gossiping, and all he wanted to do was take Steve's hand. Instead, he nodded in understanding.

“You never really talk about her,” he said cautiously.

Steve shrugged. “What is there to say? I miss her. It was just me and her for a long time. And now she’s gone, I wanna keep fighting for what’s right, the way I know she would have.”

Bucky nodded. “Best way to honor her memory, I guess.”

“Yeah, exactly.” Steve was silent for a moment. “So what about your family?”

“Uh, mom and dad are great when they’re not being super embarrassing, my little sister Becca is a pain in the ass but I’ll fight anyone who isn’t me who says so.”

“She much younger than you?” Steve asked, sipping his soda.

“Five years. Long enough that I got used to being an only child before she was born. Truth is, I wanted a little brother, so I was really disappointed when I got a sister.” Bucky paused, laughing. “She’s actually great. And it’s fun to prank her.”

“Pranks?” Steve looked suspicious.

“Nothing serious! Just little, harmless stuff. Like short sheeting her bed, or sticking a fake spider to her bedroom ceiling, stuff like that.”

Steve grinned. “Did she ever get you back?”

“Oh boy, did she ever,” Bucky responded, shaking his head. “There was the day she hid one out of every pair of my socks, and then another day when she gave me a candy that turned my whole mouth blue, and… yeah. She was pretty inventive sometimes.”

Steve laughed. “I’d like to meet her one day.”

“I’d like that,” Bucky said, smiling softly, then cleared his throat. “So, uh, you want dessert?”

“Nah, you?”

“Not really. I’m kinda full.”

“Cool,” Steve said with a smile. “I’ve got something to show you.”

“Oh?” Bucky said, intrigued, but Steve would say no more.

They halved the check when it came, then ended out into the chill of the fall night. Instead of heading back towards the campus, however, Steve led Bucky into the city, weaving through the streets until the buildings became increasingly run down. 

When they reached one which was obviously abandoned, Steve turned to Bucky with a grin.

“Are you ready?”

“For what?”

Steve looked around, then grabbed Bucky's hand. “Come on.”

Steve pulled Bucky inside the building, under some planks nailed across the doorway, and through into a stairwell. The walls, as far as Bucky could see in the dim light, were lined with various pieces of graffiti, some artistic, some just scrawled names. Steve led Bucky up the staircase, all the way to the top of the building, then kicked the door to the roof open.

Bucky followed him out, and gasped. The building next to the one they were on, a much taller building the wall of which backed on to theirs, was covered in an amazing mural of the Mona Lisa with a Mohawk and a spiked collar, patches on her dress. 

Next to it was a graffitied pair of boots, above which were the words, ‘I don’t want your society’.

Bucky looked at Steve in awe. “Is this your work?”

Steve nodded. “You like it?”

“Steve, it’s… it’s amazing.”

“It’s not finished. Wanna watch me work?”

“I’d love to,” Bucky replied sincerely, and sat cross legged on the rooftop as Steve took a bag out from under a tarpaulin, from which he took some spray cans. It was soothing to watch a picture emerge from what seemed to be just a few sprays from a can. When the Mona Lisa was done, Steve moved to the other side and began some new art, which began to take shape as a person with a spiked Mohawk in silhouette. The torso of the silhouette faded out, as though dripping down. 

Steve went back to the bag, and took out a pen, then began to scrawl across the new art. Bucky smiled as he saw the words emerge.

_They say I gotta respect a system, but there ain’t no respect in that system for me._

Steve turned around, smiling shyly. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s amazing, Steve,” Bucky said sincerely. “I think you’re a hell of an artist. These are so great.”

“Really?” Steve looked so pleased that all Bucky wanted to do was kiss him. He stood, and strode over to where Steve was standing, before looking over his shoulder. 

“Now I want to show you something,” Bucky said softly, and took Steve's hand, leading him over to a corner of the building. “Look at the city.”

Steve looked out over the bright lights of the city, eyes wide. “I’ve never looked over here before. It really is beautiful.”

Bucky turned to Steve, suddenly nervous. “I really want to kiss you right now,” he confessed, and Steve smiled. 

“So kiss me.”

Bucky cupped Steve's cheek in his palm and leaned in, the sound of the city below drowned out by the rush of blood in his ears as their lips met. It was soft, a question that was quickly answered by Steve's lips moving against his, and the kiss began to deepen. Bucky wrapped his arms around Steve's waist, pulling him closer. It wasn't enough. Bucky wanted to crawl inside Steve and never leave, and the feeling was so intense that he shivered. 

Steve pulled back. “You okay?” he murmured against Bucky's lips, and Bucky nodded, smiling lopsidedly. 

“I never thought our first kiss would have such a great view,” he responded. 

“The only view I'm interested in is the one I'm looking at right now,” Steve said softly, and Bucky melted against him, drawing him in for kiss after kiss. 

At length, Steve drew back and looked at his watch. “We'd better get back before my roommate sends out a search party,” he said with a laugh. 

“Yeah, Natasha worries too. Clint, not so much.” 

“I'll have to meet them some time,” Steve said, expression hopeful, and Bucky couldn't help but kiss him briefly. 

“I’d like that. And I'm pretty sure they would too.”

“Awesome. So, uh, can I walk you home? Pretty sure it's on my way.”

Bucky nodded, smiling, and they trudged back down the staircase onto the street. There were a few people around now, and although Bucky desperately wanted to take Steve's hand he knew he couldn't risk it for either of them. 

They walked together in comfortable silence, until they reached the door of Bucky's apartment. 

“I had a really great time tonight,” Steve said softly. 

“Me too. You, uh, you wanna maybe do it again sometime?”

“Tomorrow?”

Bucky ducked his head, smiling shyly. “Tomorrow sounds great.”

“Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then.” Steve kissed him, and Bucky felt tingly all over. “Goodnight,” Steve murmured, squeezing Bucky's hand before heading back down the staircase. 

“Try not to get into any fights on your way home!” Bucky called after him, and he heard Steve's laugh echo up the stairwell. 

Bucky went inside, through to the living room, and flopped onto the sofa beside Natasha. 

“Good date?” she asked casually. 

“Best date,” Bucky replied with a grin. 

“Awesome. By the way, Clint was muttering earlier about getting you back for stealing his light bulbs so I'd be careful when you go into your bedroom tonight.”

“Duly noted,” Bucky said, laughing. Clint could prank him all he wanted and Bucky wouldn't care. He was going on another date with Steve. Nothing else really mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my gosh where to start. First of all thanks to forestoffire for being an amazing collab partner. Secondly, to the mods, who make this bang as enjoyable and spectacularly good fun as it is. And thirdly to everyone in the CapRBB slack chat for being the most encouraging people and helping me to get the head down and write. I love you all.


End file.
